Concrete Finishes 8

This was a design put forward by British architectural firm Caruso St John for a competition to design a new centre for architecture for the Architecture Foundation (AF) in London. They did not win but I thought their proposed use of concrete was an interesting one. They maintain that London is a city built of clay but that its ceremonial buildings are white. Surface detail and decoration of buildings like St Pauls is highlighted by the action of rain and pollution. They proposed using the environmental impacts on city buildings to deliberately effect their building. Their proposed building would have been made of pure white concrete with a surface of fine grooves and polished aggregates. After a while the rougher surfaces would would weather and gather dirt and darken. This would then reveal a huge AF made of smooth white concrete. The AF is interwoven into the window placement.
(Source Brochure of Winning Entries for AF competition)